Toasting machine



Patented May 19, f '12925.

nanars. MORRISON, or AUBURN'RHODE ISLAND.

troas'rme MACHINE.

Application led January 29, 1924. SeriaiN'o. 689,332.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, HARRY S. MORRISON,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Auburn, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Toastiiig'ltlachinegof which the following is a specification. y

This 'invention relates to machines adapted primarily for toasting slices of bread, but which may be employed for broiling meats and similar treatments foods in which it is desired to subject such foods directly to a toasting or roasting heat on both of its sides simultaneously; and the object of this invention is to provide such a device or ma-` chine with a pair'of spaced-apart heating elements and means for automatically passing the food to be treated between the heating elements at a predetermined speed to be finally discharged after having been so acted upon.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists of certain novel features vof construction, as will be more fully dejected on both sides to heating elements.

Figure 2 is a front view of my improved toasting machine sectioned on line 2-2 of Figure 1, showing a plurality of slices of bread 26` as-being fed through the machine.,

Figure 3 is a side eleva-tion illustrating the intermittent or -step-by-step pawl and ratchetfeeding mechanism.

It is found in the practical operation of bread-toasting machines of this character, of advantage to provide a casing having a magazine in which a quantity of slices of bread or other food, is deposited to be fed successively through ,the machine to be acted upon on opposite sides by heating elements to toast or treat the same, means being' pro-v vided for feeding the. slices automatically. It is also found *ofl advantage to provide means in the machine Awhereby the bread while being toasted is exposed to the action of air to carryA away the moisture or-steam emana-ting from the bread during the action of heat upon it, whereby the slices of bread thickness which is not the case where bread is held inclosed while being toasted; and the following is a detailed description of one construction by which these advantageous results may be accomplished z*- lVith reference to the drawings, 10 designates the casing inclosing the operating mechanism ofI the toaster, which may be formed of any suitable-material that shown are thoroughly `toasted throughout their v being sheet metal to render the same light in weight and a Vcomplete unit which is readily portable.-

In this casing, I have mounted a pair of spaced-apart carrier sprocket chains 11 and 12 located on either side of the casing, one. sprocket chain being conducted over the four sprocket wheels 13l while the other chain 12 is conducted over similar sprockets 14 on the opposite side of the machine,l all being driven through the two lower sprockets and* mounted on shaft 15 from the motor 16 through shaft 17, worm 18, worm gear 19, crank 20, connector 21, pa'wl 22, and ratchet wheel 23 which latter is` mounted on the shaft 15, the ratchet wheel 23 being prevented from a backward motion during the reciprocating action of the driving mecha.-

nism by means of the spring pawl 24, the mechanism imparting a step-by-step feed to the food being passed through the machine during its treatment by the heat from the heating elements hereinafter described.

A magazine 25 is formed in the 'upper portion of the casing for the reception of a plurality ofvrows of slices of bread 26 set end to end and the slices in each row setting face v to face, the Hoor of the magazine comprising a set of spaced apart wires 27 set on an incline to facilitate the feeding 'of the bread,

as illustrated in Figure 1, the lower ends of the wires being arranged to extend down to a point 28 past the heating units 29 and These wires are arranged-to cooperate with another set of spaced-apart feed wires 34 which extend from the uper portion of the casing down past th'e heating elements and are spaced back from the front wires 27 a distance substantially that of the thickness of a slice of bread. .These rear wires are curved outwardly as at 32 to serve asa discharge chute for the slices 33 when toasted.

In order to assist in the feed of the slices of bread forwardly vor down the inclined surface of. the wires 27 vinto position to be engaged by the carrier chains, I have provided a weighted slide plate 34 which is arranged 'to engage the last slices of each row and press the whole forward, the front slices 35 lying against the uprightv guide wires 31 in position to be engaged by the fingers 36 which extend through these wires 31. fromA the :cross ba-rs 37 on the carrier chains 11 and 12, one set of fingers being arranged to engage the upper edges of the slices toadvance them while the next previous set ot' fingers serve as a rest for the bottom of the slices to prevent them from dropping too 'freely7 through the machine, both sets of feed fingers being` arranged to control the speed of feeding the slices lsuccessively along between the heating elements to be acted upon and toasted thereby. A

These heating elements may in some instances, be'raised to a high degree of heat by the burning of gas therein, which fuel is conducted to these elements through gas supply pipes 38 and 39 which may be connected to any suitable source of supply through pipe 50 and .the heat from these heating elements is caused to act upon both` sides of these slices of bread simultaneously as they are moved past them to properly dry, brown and toast the same, all of which toasting actions take place in a chamber suitably supplied with air.

In order to provide suliicient air space for absorbing the moisture from the bread as the heat is applied to it, I have provided an outer wall 40 beneath the inclined surface of the magazine, which wall also Aserves te prevent the direct heat from acting upon the slices in the magazine. I have also provided a lower wall 41 to further confine the heat from this element 29 and assist in directing it against the bread.

The walls 42,'43 and 44 are arranged about the other heating element 30 to confine in a measure the heat from this element and prevent it from excessively heating the carrier chains and permitting them to cool when in non-operating position.

These metal walls 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44 in- ,clusive may all be lined with asbestos, if desired, to prevent excess radiation of heat from the chamber they inclose.'

It will be noticed ,that in thlseonstruction of machine the toast is permitted to be acted upon, by heating elements in an air space, which air is permitted to be freely circulated about the breadwhile being toasted, to accomplish which the inner edges of the .walls 40--42; 41-44 -are vsufficiently far apart to permit a draft of air passing upward therethrough and out` through the open top of the machine.

After the last slice 26 in the magazine has been engaged bythe vfeeding `fingers fed down through the toasting zone, the 0perator engages a handle 45 and withdraws 36 to be the bar 34 to engage the lowermost slice of a. fresh batch of slices positioned in the magazine to be fed through the machine.

My improved toasting device is very simple and4 practical in construction and effective in its operation and by its use a nmltiplicity of slices may be toasted lsinmltaneously and fed in successively from the top of the machine and discharged from the bottom of the same into a suitable receptacle (not shown).

In some instances the feeding speed of the apparatus may be adjusted by simply moving the pivot point 46 out to the hole 4T .'simple and praeticalin construction and effective in its operation and by its use I may be enabled to have a plurality of slices of toast acted u on by the heating elements both sides being toasted at once and discharged finally` through the bottom of the machine, but I do not Wislr to be restricted to the feeding of slices of bread through the machine as any other food such as meat and the like may be'fed through the machine ifdesired to be `acted upon by the heating elements as fed past the same.

The foregoing description is directedsolely towards the construction illustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve the privilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the device'is susce tible, the invention being defined and limited by the terms of the appended claims. v

I claim:

1. In a portable toasting device, a pair of.v heating elements, a carrier for passing a' slice of bread vertically between said eglements at a predetermined speed wherebyit is toasted on both sides, and means for en. gaging and positively withdrawing the Vtoasted slices from said carrier;

2. A toaster comprising a casing having a magazine for supportingand feeding a p urality of slices of bread in a substantially vertical plane to a' carrier, a pair of spacedonly apart heatingelements below the magazine,

a vertically movable'A carrier forreceiving the/slices from said magazine conducting them downwardly betweienandl discharging them below said heating elements, and means for automatically driving said carrier at a predetermined speed.

3. A toaster comprising a casing, a pair of spaced-apart heatin elements in Said casing, means for feedmg slices of bread Ysaid heating elements.

Laagland.A

, lation of air through the casing about the slices while subjected to the toasting heat,

and guides for engaging and positively .withdrawing the slices from the feeding means.

4. In a toasting device, a pair of heating elements, spaced apart sets of verticallyarranged guidewires'between said heaters, a magazine for holding a supply of slices of bread, gravity-actuated means for feeding said slices to said guide wires, and carrier means for controlling the passage of said slices between said sets of guide wires past 5. In a toasting device, a pair of heating elements, spaced-apart sets of vertically-ar ranged guide wires between said heaters, a maga-zine for holding a supply of slices lot bread, gravity-actuated means for feeding said slices to said guide wires, and carrier means for controlling the passage of said slices between said sets of guide wires past said heating elements, said guide wiresbeing arranged to' positively withdraw the slices from said carrier after having been subjected to the toasting heat.

6. In a toasting device, a pair of vertically arranged spaced apart heating elements, two sets of spaced apart guide wires located between said elements, and a carrier having fingers .extending through one set of guide wires to enga e and conduct the slices of bread downwar ly between said sets of guide wires to expose the opposite sides ofthe slice to said elements to toast the same.

7. A toaster comprisinga casing having a magazine for supporting a plurality of slices of bread side by side in contiguous relation, a pair of spaced-apart heating elements, two sets of spaced apart guide wires between wh-ich the slices are fed,.a pair -of spaced-apart sprocket chains connected at intervals by feed bars, and fingers on said bars projecting between sald guide wires to engage the foremost of the slices at the magazine and feed them between said heating elements to be toasted on both sides simultaneously.

. 8. In a toasting device, a pair of vertically arranged spaced-apart heating elements, two sets of spaced-apart guide wires 1ocatedbetween said elements, one of said sets of guide wires being disposed to form a discharge chute, the other of said sets' being disposed to form a support for the slices of bread before toasting and a carrier for conveyingthe slices from said support between said heating lelements to said discharge chute whereby the slices are toasted on both sides.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature.

HARRY s. MORRISON. 

